thanks guys i guess I'll check in with the dealer

 

Well guys, after I came home from school today (I walk), I was planning on taking my 8 out with the guys to lunch. The car hasn't been driven in about 1 week....I've never experienced start-up problems before. I went to turn it over and it would just wind and not fire. Repeatedly. So I called Mazda and they said everything is covered under warranty just call this number and get it towed to us.

So I did, as I type this I'm waiting on the tow-truck guy. What could be wrong with it? I know its not the battery? Fouled plugs? Please dont tell me its flooded. I dont want to have to get rid of this lovely machine.

Please help.

I bought it on February 6, 2004. It only has 5,800 miles on her. Last time I drove it it was driven, not just taken out and shut off.

 

did you try doing the flooded/no start procedure in the manual? why would you have to get rid of it because of 1 no-start? is this a high school you walk to?

 

If it's flooded just push start it or pull it behind a friends car to start it. Forget the flatbed trip.

 

I would only get rid of it if these things kept happening repeatedly, not the first time. We'll see what the problem is diagnosed as...Its not the cost I'm worried about because these things are covered under warranty and wont cost me.

And yes, High School.

 

don't worry about it. did you get the "m" flash? they redid that program because it was causing more problems then it was solving (like flooding on cold starts). don't take any crap from the dealer! the engine is incredible but needs to be treated differently then a piston engine as i am sure you already know.

 

FWIW: I flooded my stock Honda Civic last week. A friend of mine commented that he didn't even know it was possible to flood a modern fuel injected piston engine. Yep, it's possible. It's not only limited to rotaries.

 

Mine does this too if I let it sit for more than a week. Its usually really hard to turn over.

It might be low battery, or low oil causing a rough start I imagine. But those are just my guesses.

Does anyone know if the 8 can just flood itself while sitting around for long periods of time?

 

Mine did the same thing last week for the first time at 22,000 miles . It flooded after sitting for over a week. I tried the no start procedure several times then sent it off to the dealer. From my experience pulling/drying the plugs and clearing the motor is the best method. The plugs were much easier to reach on 1st and 2nd gens.

 

yeah well i guess i'll know whats wrong with my car in the morning when i call the dealer, i couldnt get through tonight. its killing me. hope nothing is seriously wrong with her.

 

SDRacer87,

Did the battery seem a little weak when you tried to start? Then afterwards the motor cranked but sound was a little raspier than normal when turning over. If so, it's a flood and the dealer will have it back to you in no time. It's funny, I've actually tried to flood mine thinking flooding was a myth. I can't flood mine with the classic short run and turn off scenario. But trying to start it with a weak battery seems to be another method of flooding. As I said in another flood post I am investing in a higher quality/capacity battery and a storage charger and don't expect this to happen again.

 

Cool, thanks for the info DosDog.

And yes, the engine did seem raspier than normal when I was cranking it over. Sounds like a flood then I guess.

 

You might want to check your air box. I noticed fluid under the air box, opened it up and my filter is soaked in ATF.

 

Well, I must say, after driving my beloved baby for a year and a half, I thought I was immune to flood problems. This leads to complancency, and careless disregard for warm up procedures. Thus after moving it out of the garage one morning, than changing my mind about which car to take to work, I brought it back into the garage (ran about 2 minutes). The next day......Flooded.
Not only am I the new president of the Flood Club, but now, I am also a member :o

 

havent heard of an oil in the filter problem in awhile. probably since fall of 2003. did you get your MAFS cleaned guy?

 

Do you have the latest flash? I never had a flooding issue with mine and was under the impression from Mazda and many folks on the boards that the "M" flash corrected the problem. I admit to being forgetfull and have started cold, backed out of the garage and shut it down several times without flooding. If you have the current flash and are still having flood issues, I guess I better start paying more attention.

 

my car came with the m flash and never flooded.... (knockin on woody)

 

Abbid,

No.. they put ATF in the combustion chamber to regain compression.. it all has to come out somewhere

Zoom,

Not yet.. it's FREEZING outside (45 here today!) I'll clean it when I put in a new air filter.. The stock filter runs $50 bucks so I think I might get a K&N drop in or something..

 

OH they being the service dept?! make them clean the MAFS!! and you do know that freezing is 32f right? silly floridians

 

Cebat,

So you started, backed out, turned off, then started, pulled in, and turned off?

If that is the case, I think the flooding is a possibility. The way the M flash prevents flooding would not a predictably prevent it for multiple cold starts/short drives.

Did you take it to McCurly, or what did you do with it?

Trevor

 

I'd rather just do it myself I kinda wish they would pay for the air filter.. but I'm pretty sure it will be listed as a mantenence item and not covered :/

well, it will be 32 tonight!! :p

 

No, I think he started, pulled out, pulled back in, idled for 2 mins, and then turned off.

Personally, I don't think idling 2 mins is sufficient to warm up the car, now if he reved the engine to 5k and shut off, it would be a better way to prevent flooding.

 

Never heard of ATF being used for that, but in any case, where do they inject the oil? It's my understanding that they're supposed inject oil through the spark plug holes. In which case I would think the oil would be partially burned or at least "pumped" out into the exhaust system, not into the intake system. Seems to me that doing that enough times could kill the cat converter.

But then again, what do I know.

 

Ala Croc Dundee... that's not freezing I'll show you freezing... we were down to -25 C (-13 F) last night :D

 

There's a vaccume hose you can use to let it suck in the fluid.. OR you could introduce it through the spark plug hole.. Depending on how much they used I guess some could come out the intake? Some people have had oil in their intake box.. so I could see it happening..